Fat Lips
by Colleentj
Summary: Gwen wakes up one morning to find that her lips are swollen. Being a girl, she frantically worries about it. But don't worry, Kevin will be there to comfort you. "Is that why you never let me kiss you?" ...well, maybe not.


**Fat Lips**

**A **_**Ben 10 Alien Force**_** FanFiction**

_Beep-beep-beep-beep-_

"Ungggh…"

_-beep-beep-beep-_

"Naww… not now…"

-_beep-beep-beep-_

"ALL RIGHT ALL READY!"

Gwen Tennyson dashed her hand out from under the bed covers and smacked the alarm clock, the noise stopping. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and yawned. Gwen reached up a single hand to brush the hair out of her face.

She hit something else instead.

"What in the name of…" she began. She ran a finger over her lips, which felt dry. "Chapstick," she mumbled to herself, naming only what her instincts told her she needed. She slipped her feet into her slippers and pulled on her bathrobe, which was dashed over the headboard. Groggily, she crossed the floor to where her vanity was, and checked her appearance.

And screamed.

There was the sound of footsteps running up the stairs, and her mother entered the room, frantic, and still in her nightclothes.

"Gwen! Gwen, what's the matter!?"

Gwen covered her face in horror and began to break down into heavy sobs.

"Gwendolyn!" her mother rushed to her side and gathered her into her arms. "Gwendolyn, please, what's wrong?"

Slowly, Gwen released her face from its hiding spot, and glanced into her mother's eyes.

"Look at me," Gwen whispered, her voice wavering. Her mother cocked an eyebrow.

"What?"

"_What_!?" Gwen replied, shocked. "Don't you notice them?"

"Notice _what, _sweetie?"

"My _lips_!!" Gwen cried, pulling out of her mother's protective embrace. "Look at them!! They're _swollen!"_

Her mother drew her face into a confused expression. "They look quite ordinary to me," she observed.

Gwen whirled back to the mirror. "_Mis_ _labios _are anything but ordinary!" she retorted hotly. "They're honking enormous! _Muy grande!_"

"You must be really angry to be speaking Spanish," Gwen's mother said. "But I assure you, dear, they aren't very large looking to me."

"_THEY ARE_!" Gwen cried, and began to prod her lips side to side, up and down.

"Hmm," said her mother. "Did you have a canker sore or something in your mouth before?"

"Yes," said Gwen. "Now that I think about it, yes, and I still do. But I was so sure it was almost gone…"

"If that's what you had," her mother said, "then it's common among the Tennyson family for canker sores to lead to swollen lips. The _entire _Tennyson family. It's in our blood."

"They look like mushrooms!"

"No, they don't," Gwen's mother continued.

"Toadstools," Gwen whispered in horror. "I'm doomed!"

"Well, then, I can't help you," her mother sighed, combing a hand through her own hair. She nodded, and left.

Gwen blotted off some of her tears with a tissue and climbed out of her window and onto the roof. She was still in the sweatpants and T-Shirt that she had worn to bed. She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her head on top of it.

Then she got an idea.

_Kevin_! she called inside of her head. Maybe her powers would enable Kevin to hear her.

"Yes?"

She pivoted her head around. Kevin was already sitting next to her.

"AH!"

"What?"

"How did you get here so quickly?"

"I dunno," Kevin replied. "'bout fifteen seconds ago, I was sitting in my car in the parking lot keeping an eye on that old warehouse. Now I'm here. What's the riff?"

"I… I'm sad. Don't look at me!" she cried, and buried her face in her arms again.

"Whatev," said Kevin, and instead he turned away and looked out at the neighborhood. "You know, Gwen, it's a little early to be out sittin' on the roof."

"I don't care!" said Gwen. "I- I like it out here. It's peaceful."

"Yeah," said Kevin quietly, watching Gwen. "I think I like it, too." Gwen glanced up shyly.

"So," said Kevin, initiating a new conversation. "Why the long face?"

"Just look at me!" she cried, and pointed to her face. "Look at my lips!" Kevin shifted uncomfortably.

"Your- your lips?"

"Yes! Look at them! They're swollen!"

Kevin chuckled. "Really? I honestly didn't notice."

"I HAVE FAT LIPS!!" she cried. "Nobody cares," she continued weakly.

A bird whizzed by and perched on a nearby branch. It began to sing. Kevin leaned back on his elbows.

"I care," he muttered, feeling a little hurt. Didn't Gwen know that he cared about her more than anything else in the galaxy? It pained him to see her so distraught.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "It's just… I never thought I cared much about vanity. I always thought I was a lot tougher, and it hurts my pride to feel so… so…"

"Aw, c'mon, now," said Kevin, half smiling. "You've fought off aliens, and travelled through time, and you're a heck of a lot tougher than Ben is."

Gwen's brow furrowed. "How'd you find out about the time travelling incident?" she asked.

Kevin shifted nervously. "Well… ya see, Ben has a key to your house, and we came in to watch the game once on your TV, and you had a journal that you'd left out on the couch…"

Gwen blushed furiously. "You read it!? What else did you read!?"

"Nothin' important," he replied, blushing in turn. He'd actually read many things that he was sure she wouldn't like to hear. Especially the one that she wrote about him.

"Kevin," she sighed, and ran her fingers over her "swollen" lips. "I never thought I was so much of a girl, but… I guess I was a little protective of how I looked, now that I think about it. I was always conscious of my face… a little. And now that I'm all swollen up, I just feel so—"

"You were protective of your face?" repeated Kevin. "Is that why you never let me kiss you!?"

Both boy and girl turned powerfully crimson at this comment.

"Wh-what!?"

"I- sorry- I mean- it just kinda- came out!" Kevin stuttered, and then shifted his gaze to the roof. He quickly moved his eyes to the sky, and then back at the roof, and then towards the house across the street. And then, slowly, back at Gwen.

She wasn't looking.

"Stupid lips," she whimpered.

"You know, Gwen, there's more to life than your face."

"I know."

"I'm not saying you're not beautiful," Kevin added, which made Gwen blush, but she giggled, which was what Kevin was aiming for. It was rare that Gwen giggled. "And I like you, fat lips or not."

Gwen smiled, and took Kevin's hand.

And her phone rang.

"Grr!" she exclaimed. She whipped her hands away and pulled her phone from her pocket. It was Ben. How could it not be, with the "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy" ring tone playing?

"Hello?" she asked, bringing the device to her ear.

"Gwen? Gwen!" yelled Ben. "Can you hear me!? Do you still have that Red Cross medication stuff from last week?"

"The canker sore stuff?" she asked.

"Yeah!"

"Why?" Gwen questioned. "Do you need it?"

"Yes…" Ben sighed. "You see, I was drinking a smoothie, and I accidentally bit my lip, and now I have a canker sore and it's _killing me_!!"

"Geez, what a mouthful," said Gwen.

"I know, it's—hey, that's not funny!!" cried Ben. "Anyway, can you _please _give it to me?"

Gwen sighed audibly. "Yes, I'll run it over in ten minutes."

"Thanks so much, Gwen," said Ben. "I owe you a smoothie."

He hung up.

Kevin was sitting silently on the roof, smiling triumphantly. He felt peaceful here; he rarely felt peaceful like this. He had Gwen to thank.

"That was Ben. He has terrible timing, along with a terrible canker sore," Gwen said. She yawned loudly. "I told him I'd bring him some medicine in ten minutes."

"I think you need some rest," Kevin said. "Go back to sleep."

"Yeah, guess you're right," said Gwen. Kevin helped her back through the window, and she crawled under the covers. She was asleep in several minutes.

Kevin watched her for a moment, smiling. Then, he returned to the roof. Ben's canker sore could wait.

**

Gwen slept for another hour. By the time she'd woken up, she'd forgotten all about Ben's canker sore and the medicine she owed him. She ended up spending the day with Kevin. Ben spent the rest of his day inside, miserable. His canker sore prevented him from having any smoothies at all.

When Ben awoke the following morning, he realized that his lips felt very odd. Large, even. Concerned, he walked over to his mirror.

And screamed.


End file.
